On the 30th, the Ministry of Science and ICT hosted a domestic physical AI industry-academic-research meeting, where suggestions from industry and academia for industrial expansion were presented. Vice Minister Ryu Je-myung held an on-site meeting at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, to discuss securing core technology competitiveness in domestic physical AI and rapidly spreading the industry.
◇ Korea's physical AI takes its first step… "Bold government investment needed"
Physical AI refers to an AI system that learns from the surrounding environment to make judgments and take actions on its own. Humanoids and self-driving cars are representative of the physical AI industry.
Vice Minister Ryu noted, "I feel a sense of crisis that physical AI is not a story of the future but that we have already reached an evolutionary stage that requires immediate action," adding, "We secured the budget during the last supplementary budget, but since we have only taken the first step, collective intelligence is needed."
The meeting began with a presentation by Kim Wook, the global PM of the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP). PM Kim explained, "If we closely examine AI, it is identical to the history of human intelligence," remarking that "implementing a system that moves like human behavior can be described as physical AI."
Yoo Tae-jun, CEO of MAUM.AI (Chairman of the Korea Physical AI Association), stated, "The training data for physical AI is difficult to obtain and costly to collect compared to large language models (LLMs) or vision AI, as it serves as the foundation for robots to learn and perform tasks in the real world," adding, "Securing data sovereignty in the field of physical AI is a matter of survival, not an option."
Professor Jang Young-jae from KAIST said, "Physical AI can become a new alternative for the domestic manufacturing industry," and emphasized, "It is about seeing the factory itself as a massive single robot" and added, "Bold investments from the Ministry of Science and ICT are necessary."
Minister Jeong Dong-young of the Ministry of Unification also made an appearance at the meeting. Previously, Minister Jeong had actively supported securing the budget for physical AI during his time as a member of the National Assembly. He remarked, "It would be great if we could vividly convey that physical AI is not a tale of the future, but a reality."
◇ "We need to increase research and actively apply it to the manufacturing industry"
During the subsequent discussion, industry-academic-research representatives shared the difficulties they faced on-site. Jang Ha-young, CEO of TheraMind, remarked, "The biggest challenge from a development perspective is that the software and hardware fields are separated," adding, "I have worked on several government robot tasks, but I sometimes find myself in a strange situation where I cannot even call a robot a robot." He continued, "If there are policies or projects that can bridge this gap, it would be helpful."
Attendees also raised their voices in emphasizing the need to actively apply physical AI to the manufacturing industry. Lee Chang-ho, CEO of CMES, stated, "If physical AI does not enter our manufacturing industry, it will be difficult to maintain the title of a manufacturing powerhouse. Above us are Germany, the United States, and Japan, while China is engaging in low-cost competition. Government support is required to reflect physical AI technology in actual production lines."
In academia, support was requested for nurturing talent and sustainable research. Professor Jang Dong-ui from KAIST stated, "If the government creates many research projects and universities nurture talent, it can help prevent outstanding students from leaning toward specific fields." Professor Yoo Hwan-jo from Pohang University of Science and Technology remarked, "In academia, although there may not be immediate visible results, we engage in future-oriented research. Among that, we may discover breakthroughs," as he requested government support.
Vice Minister Ryu Je-myung stated, "Physical AI is a next-generation general-purpose AI technology that can revolutionize our daily life and industries, including manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, healthcare, and defense. For the leap to AI G3, it is important to merge and disseminate physical AI in key areas such as manufacturing."
He added, "In the future, I will work closely with relevant departments, such as the Ministry of Industry, to ensure that convergence and synergy creation between the AI sector and the manufacturing industry can proceed smoothly."